Humans vs Zombies (day 4)

I made it to Walmart and back without seeing a single zombie, and I felt sure that I could then stay in Mo hall for the rest of the day.  Unfortunately, I then went to R’s dorm over in Centennial.  While filling up my water bottle in the hallway, I became surrounded by seven zombies.  Granted, I was indoors, so they couldn’t tag me.  But that doesn’t matter.  What does matter, is that I’m now trapped in Centennial until I can get around zombies who are surrounded the building.

So, I’m hiding on R’s room-mate’s bed, doing homework and watching Mean Girls while R and N are texting our Mizzou friends with gossip.  They’ve started some shit with each other, and I’m staying uninvolved, as usual.  But I’m one to avoid trouble or mediate if I get into it.  So, thus I’m being reclusive.

I’m a bit angry at myself for getting into this trap, though.  There’s no point in even leaving R’s room until after dark.  And since it’s a sunny day today, that will be an hour later.  So, I’m stuck here for another six hours.

Luckily, I planned ahead a little bit.  I brought my laptop so that I can type up two reports for art and my public speaking outline (not to mention for blogging and Facebook and BBC news).  Also with me are my text books for psychology and maybe history (if I was smart enough to bring it along).  Though, I’m pretty sure I didn’t bring along my syllabus, so it doesn’t really matter–which sucks since history is my favourite subject this semester.  It’s the only homework that I actually enjoy doing, since history is like a story.  Hell, it has the word “story” in it.  After that, I really enjoy learning psychology, though the heavy work load gets dull.

So, let’s hope that I can get through this.  Only two of my thirteen friends who ended up playing are left, and I want to be able to beat them.  Yeah, that’s really lame.  But seeing as how there are only 92 humans left out of the original 331, I’m getting pretty competitive.  Again, lame.

Know what else is really lame?  That I’m trapped here.  At least there’s a cafeteria inside of the building, so I’m good on food.  Speaking of, I’m going to go grab a bite to eat.

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Humans vs Zombies (day 3)

I managed to get back to Mo hall safely last night, and I made it to and from class earlier this morning.  There was an encounter with a zombie while running from Dobson, but I luckily survived.

Unfortunately, I will have to make my way over to Baldwin tonight for a screening of Harry Potter, and I’m not sure if I will survive the night.  Zombies have begun to guard the exits of Mo Hall and OP.  Unfortunately, I live in Mo Hall, and OP is my safe spot next door (it take about fifteen seconds to run from Mo to OP’s safety).  From there, it’s a one to two minute brisk walk to Baldwin.  The zombies have begun to sanction off areas of Baldwin to guard it.

Fellow humans came through the living room today, where I was sewing up an old t-shirt (my shirt is ripped and jeans muddied), and they informed me of an exit in OP that was kept secret.  I will hopefully be able to use this exit.  Otherwise, I will have to tempt fate and leave through the exit that I have been using.

Once I’m in Baldwin, I will be relatively safe–especially since I will not be leaving until after dark.  By that time, I should hopefully be able to get out alive.

Wish me luck in surviving the night.

PS: As a side note, the death toll has now reached 195, and only 113 humans remain.  I can’t believe that I got this far!

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Humans vs Zombies (day 2)

My jeans are covered in specks of mud, along with my bag (which is filled with socks).  I’m on the third floor of a building in the middle of campus, waiting for a presentation or something.  I actually ended up getting here two hours earlier, and I’ve sat around, doing homework ever since.  So long as I am indoors, I am still safe.

We’ve passed the forty eight hour mark, now, and it’s stressful.

Going out into the dark rain is treacherous.  It’s easy to slip in the mud and puddles, visibility is very low, and there are zombies everywhere.  Now that we’ve passed the half way mark in how many humans have been turned into zombies, it’s a much more difficult game.  In fact, out of the ten of my friends who decided to play HvZ, only two are left.

Honestly, I’m just happy to still be alive right now.  More than half of the players are now zombies (167 are zombies, and 164 are humans).  Being in the winning half is feeling pretty nice at the moment, and it would be enormously cool to get into the top 25th percentile instead of the 49th or so that I’m at now.  Still, all is well.

Tomorrow will be more difficult.  I don’t know how I will get to my 9.30 class without dying.  It will be terribly difficult with the day-light and large amounts of zombies around Baldwin Hall.  And I don’t even plan on leaving from that class, not even for lunch.  My other class is so close and only two  hours later, so I’ll bring something with me from breakfast so that I can eat before religions.  After religions, I’m not quite sure how I’ll get back to Missouri Hall, but I’ll try my damnedest.  And once I get back there, I only have to leave for one other thing–a screening of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince around seven.  It’s on the complete other side of campus, so I’m not quite sure how I’ll get there, but hopefully it will work out.

Really, though, I should be trying to think of a way to get out of this building for right now.  After the presentation that I’m seeing ends around nine or ten, I’ll probably stay a little while longer before venturing out of the basement to another building, going into its basement, then cutting to Mo hall.  The only thing that I can hope for is that the rain and the dark help me on my late night journeys.

Tomorrow will probably be the end of my human life and the start of my life as one of the undead.  But even getting this far is an accomplishment, and I keep telling myself that.  After all, I’ve fended off plenty of zombies so far, and I’ve been logical, rational, and quick with my escapes and walking to and from classes.  I’m proud that I’ve used my brain in finding the best ways around campus and in avoiding zombies.

Anyway, that’s about it for today.  Should I become a zombie while heading back to Missouri Hall, I will inform you.

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Humans vs Zombies

I was sitting in the middle of the living room, my face red, breathing hard, a purple bandana around my forearm, and ten rolled up socks in my Harry Potter bag.  I had just power walked from Dobson to Missouri Hall in less than two minutes, and my legs were heating up in anger at my over-exertion for nearly the fifth time in two hours.  I had been lucky.  I had survived.

I had survived the zombie hordes.

Truman State University is not unique in the fact that its students get together each year to play a game of life and death.  This game is called Humans versus Zombies, and it is the fight to survive (if you’re human) and to feast on the living (if you so happen to be turned into a zombie).

My purple bandana identified me as what I was–a human, a human running for life.  The rainbow bandana around my friend’s head signified what he was as well–a zombie, a zombie wishing to feast on my brains as I went to lock my door.

“Fuck…” I muttered, turning to Franz.  “You?  What happened?”

He looked at me with a defeated look, the bandana tied clumsily around his hair.  “Well, I dropped my phone, and it was raining, and I was ambushed.”  I shook my head as I walked around him towards my candy dish.

“We won’t be seeing each other outside of MO hall for a while, by the way,” I said, sighing as I kept myself from grabbing some Starbursts.

You see, Franz had been tagged by a zombie, which meant that he was now a zombie and must tie his bandana around his head rather than his arm.  He could have defended himself with Nerf darts or even rolled up socks (my weapon of choice), but an ambush was more tricky.  So, now he’s a zombie.

The rules of the game are simple: survive.  You can stun a zombie for fifteen minutes by throwing a sock ot Nerf dart at them, and they can tag you to turn you into a zombie.  Pretty basic stuff.  The game itself usually lasts around five days before every human has become a zombie or every zombie has starved to death (for they must eat one human every two days).

For the moment, I am still in the resistance.  I managed to walk a mile to class and a mile back safely, though I did stun two zombies who chased after me.  The girl ran faster and was gaining on me.  Quickly, I stopped and faced her, pulling rainbow socks out of my bag.  She edged around, ten feet from me, and I threw two socks, missing both times.  Finally, as she neared ever more, I threw.  And third try’s a charm, right?  Her friend came running after, panting and stopping to rest behind a dumpster.

“Sorry, I’m a fat zombie.”

“No worries,” I replied, “I’m a fat, slow human.  By the way, hi!”

“You introduce yourself?” He and the girl laughed.

“Yeah, why not,” I shrugged, grasping a pink sock in hand, feeling somewhat safe on the other side of the dumpster.  “I saw you guys leave Dobson, and I was just like ‘oh fuck!’  There was a girl in front of me, and she just turns around and stares.  And then I started running–”  And that’s when I threw a sock at him to stun him.

“Gotcha!” I yelled, happily moving forward to retrieve my four socks.

He looked down at the sock wide-eyed and then down to where it hat him, “You lured me into a false sense of security!”  The three of us couldn’t help but laugh.  I picked up the rest of my socks as we talked, wished them a good day, then walked through the park to class, completely safe.

Once inside, the zombies couldn’t touch me, so I let off my guard and sat by a friend who was also human.  He had a Nerf gun ready to go for when we exited class, and I’m happy to say that we both survived (for the time being).

Granted, I’ll probably die tomorrow while going to or from psychology, but that’s okay, honestly.  If I become a zombie, I become a zombie.  There’s not much stopping it.  But, if I can, I will try my darnedest to not get tagged.  Mainly because I want to be able to go as long as possible as a human; more for bragging rights than anything else.

So, we’ll see how tomorrow goes.  I’ll try to inform about the goings on.  Hopefully they’ll be exciting.

Here’s to survival.

Humans vs Zombies

Humans vs Zombies

These were photos that I used for the Humans vs Zombies website.  Get excited.

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Dear Sir…

This is a letter that I sent to a man claiming that taking prayer out of school and teaching evolution directly lead to all teenage suicide. His findings were completely false, so I couldn’t help but write this one. It’s three pages when hand written, but it looks a lot less epic when typed. Oh well.

If you’d like to see his blasphemy for yourself, go to http://www.trashevolution.com.
You’ll either laugh or cry.

Dear Sir,

I came across your site called “Trash Evolution”, and there was something bothering me about the teenage suicide section. your model basically proposes that all suicides result in not believing in God and thus having no hope, but psychiatric disorders actually contribute to 90% of all US suicides. A psychiatric disorder is not caused by hopelessness because of a lack in belief of God. It is caused by the lack or over-production of certain chemicals in the brain–usually the lack of endorphins (causing depression) or the over-production of dopamine (a cause of schizophrenia). These chemical imbalances are caused by poor diet, prenatal infection, and heredity. a lack of heavenly belief does not cause chemical imbalances (and thus depression), as depression is a clinical illness. These psychiatric disorders cannot be cured by simply shoving evolution aside and believing in God, but are cured through medication, counselling, and general support. Many depressed teenagers to go religious support-groups, and yes–that helps. But it is not a full cure, especially when the people running these clinics are not trained professionals.

Furthermore, your correlation between taking prayer out of schools/teaching evolution in schools and increased suicide rates is completely unfounded. The past fifty years have seen a dramatic rise in teenage stress caused by a higher emphasis of getting into university, increased social pressure, and poor health habits. These poor health habits (often a lack of organic foods or increase in toxic farming chemicals) can lead to many psychological disorders, because chemicals can act as agonists and antagonists in the brain (similar to opiate effects on the production of endorphins). People with these disorders are more likely to fall under societal stresses, hopelessness, and anger because they cannot physically produce the chemicals needed to keep their brains stable. A strong belief that you son’t matter (because of no faith in God) may lead to increased hopelessness for these people, but it in no way leads to depression. So, your model of lack of faith leading to depression leading to suicide is incorrect. For a small portion of suicides (where belief [or lack thereof] in god is essential to the suicide), the model would be: depression leads to increased stress (fed by lack of faith) leads to suicide. Still, the majority of suicides are not caused by thinking they don’t matter, but by other stressors linked to chemical depression.

Please, base your findings in fact rather than speculation and false correlations. Just because I could say that there are less fish in the oceans because more protestants have decided to eat fish on Fridays (as more protestant Christians have begun to follow Lent), does not mean that it’s the direct reason why. Most Americans know that the main reasons for a lack of fish are caused by an increase in global population and over-fishing by many Asian countries (specifically Japan and China for tuna). Your model was as incorrect as my analogy above–or, rather, as unfounded in actual fact. Just because two things rise as the same time does not prove a positive correlation between the two–that’s elementary statistics. So, please, fix your model.

It’s sites and Christians like you who feed atheistic thought. They believe that all Christians are mentally stuck in the 1100s because of the lack of acceptance of fact and progress in Christian societies, and then they figure, “Why bother?” And it’s not even about evolution, but about not being willing to accept or be open-minded to view points not matching precisely with the Bible. Many parts of the Bible have been changed by the church and have been used only as a tool to explain natural phenomena. Many of these phenomena have been fully explained using modern, technological advances, and the changes (some occurring even in the last few centuries) prove that the Bible is not the direct word of God, but the humanised version of His teachings.

If you want to appeal to those atheists you are trying to reach, I recommend using fact instead of your own unfounded ideas and speculations. May you find the true light of God instead of being stuck in your narrow-minded ways.

Sincerely,

Melissa Stone
Truman State University
(I also included my mailing address.)

PS: Your email wouldn’t work, which is why I resorted to actual mail.

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What works best:

• Taking a two mile walk.
• Buying a cappuccino from the gas station.
• Reading a few pages of Lord of the Rings.
• Closing the window that’s making me freeze to death.
• Taking a slight time-out from music.
• Reading something that’s actually interesting (psych work about intelligence and IQ).

And then the world is your’s.  Or, at least if your world is accomplishing homework.

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Procrastination

I don’t need to be here.  In fact, I need to be reading my psychology text book and writing my speech for Monday’s public speaking course.  But, instead, I’m sitting at my desk on my laptop, trying not to fall asleep with the stress of not actually doing anything.

Procrastination and I aren’t friends; we hate each other, actually.  Yet, for the amount of dislike between us, we certainly do hang out quite a bit.

Yesterday was certainly fun, though, even with Procrastination nagging at the back of my mind.  R, N, J (my roomie), and I went to Oktoberfest at Truman, and it was windy and freezing–freezing enough that we exchanged our winter jackets for full coats before heading back outside.  From there, we wandered campus, exploring once again.  We found hidden basements, a bathroom that I swear must be the Chamber of Secrets (even more so than that other hidden bathroom I was talking about), and scary staircases leading to dead-ends.  All in all, a hell of a good time.

Later, we went back to the living room to play Rock Band together.  Soon, people from all over the house were coming to watch and play, and the four of us expanded to a good party of eight or so.

And even later, R, N, and I went to the “All Science Rave”.  It was your average dance, club atmosphere at a frat house, but there was no food and no beverages, so I felt pretty safe about the atmosphere.  Or, at least I did until two hours in, when a girl stumbled in with a gallon-looking glass jug of blue alcohol.  R and I looked over at her, looked to each other, and immediately went to fetch our coats from the other room.  N, R, and I ran out and looked back at the crowded frat party.

“Did that seriously just happen?” I asked.  It’s probably supposed to happen, I thought.  So, we met up with a girl who lives in N’s dorm, and we were hanging out in a lounge for another hour before leaving.

So, in a terrible rush, that’s what I did yesterday.  Fun until the alcohol-laden sluts ran into the science party.  And, yes, they were sluts, because they danced drunkenly on the table with each other, waiting for guys to think they were hot.  It was rather disgusting, and R and I were far away from there once those girls moved in.  In fact, it was because of them that we went to the entrance and saw the girl with alcohol walking in.  Good time, right?

It sucks that people are so into alcohol.  Why do something when you won’t remember it the next day?  It seems rather pointless to live if you’re always getting completely drunk.  Not to mention that it has a lot of negative side-effects both physically and mentally.  About a quarter of all college drop-outs drop out because of alcohol.  Great.

Anyway, that’s about it for the day.  I’m going to go freeze some more in the my room as I sit with Procrastination and think about doing my psychology and speech work.

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